Hopes rise for Xi-Biden face-to-face

The statements issued separately by China and the United States that the talks between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan were "candid, substantive and constructive" were likely an honest reflection of the progress made in their 12 hours of face-to-face discussions in Malta.

Mind the length: 12 hours.

It was sufficient for Wang and Sullivan to engage in a truly deep discussion on a broad range of issues. By far, this was the most encouraging sign of late.

That it was followed by another high-level meeting between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng on the sidelines of the United Nations general assembly in New York should raise the prospect of a face-to-face summit between President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Joe Biden later this year.

Speculation has been rife over whether Xi would travel to San Francisco to attend the APEC leaders meeting in November since he snubbed the recent G20 summit in New Delhi, India.

The "agreement" to maintain and increase high-level communications at the end of the Malta marathon talks, as well as upbeat remarks following the talks on the UN sidelines, may be viewed as a breakthrough in the two countries' tense relationship that, if not stabilized, would threaten to escalate into military conflicts to endanger the whole world.

It is in everyone's interest to see the two major powers do everything possible to lower the temperature, even if they cannot iron out their differences on areas of importance.

Signs have been positive recently, indicating at least a willingness on both sides to make efforts to stabilize their precarious relationship to keep it from falling further to tricky levels.

If technology is doomed to be off-limits, talks could continue on trade matters and cooperation on climate change.

Wang's appearance in Malta after many days of absence from the public ended rumors that he had been pushed aside after the BRICS summit in South Africa.

That is when Xi's interpreter was blocked by a security guard of the hosting nation as the president walked onstage, with the embarrassing incident aired internationally.

Wang is the most experienced diplomat in the foreign ministry and considered the most suitable to take on Sullivan. Having met many times, Wang and Sullivan are no strangers to each other.

As China and the US agree to step up bilateral exchanges, each has its own geopolitical and domestic factors to consider.

For instance, China badly needs to reboot its economy in wake of an exodus of production lines from the global factory.

The US presidential election will be held next year and Biden is under tremendous pressure to balance conflicting demands from campaign donors.

Wang flew to Moscow immediately after the Malta meeting. Naturally, Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted to know what he had discussed with Sullivan.

If Biden and Xi do meet in San Francisco during the APEC event, we may well see the Sino-US relationship stabilize - though not necessarily improved - to the level before.